By Todd Pitman and Esther Htusan Associated Press MYIN HLUT, Myanmar (AP) — The small wooden boats leave the shores of western Myanmar nearly every day, overloaded with desperate Rohingya Muslims who are part of one the largest boat exoduses in Asia since the Vietnam War.

The University of Washington’s (UW) Jackson School and the iSchool’s Technology and Social Change group hosted 25 Myanmar’s leaders from government, media, libraries, and ethnic communities over the summer. The leaders participated in workshops for five weeks about information strategies and held panel discussions open to the public. The leaders were partly sponsored by Microsoft/USAID. […]

By Mari Yamaguchi Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese film idol Yoshiko Yamaguchi, who was known as Rikoran and symbolized Japan’s wartime dreams of Asian conquest, has died at age 94. Known as Shirley Yamaguchi in the United States and one of the biggest Japanese film stars during and after World War II, Yamaguchi died […]

By Chris Brummitt Associated Press HANOI, Vietnam (AP) – Vietnam allowed several hundred demonstrators to stage a noisy rally outside the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi on May 11 against Beijing’s deployment of an oil rig in the contested South China Sea that has triggered a tense standoff and raised fears of confrontation.

By Thanyarat Doksone Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) – Thai authorities were urged April 21 to investigate the disappearance of an environmental activist who has worked to help ethnic Karen villagers report on illegal activity around Thailand’s largest national park.

By Dipika Kohli Special to the Northwest Asian Weekly Old and scruffy. Wearing thongs and the loose, elephant-printed cotton trousers of the sort you only get on holidays in Southeast Asia. Mae Sai, in this case. Thailand. But his outfit wasn’t the first thing you noticed about the heavyset man in front of TESCO. It […]

By Aye Aye Win Associated Press YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar’s president on Nov. 15 pardoned 69 political prisoners, including two grandsons of a former dictator, as part of a promise to free all such detainees by the end of the year.

By Ashok Sharma Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) – Millions of Indians were setting off deafening fireworks displays Sunday (Nov. 3) to light up the sky for Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, which celebrates the triumph of good over evil.

HTAN GONE, Myanmar (AP) — Members of a 1,000-strong Buddhist mob torched dozens of homes and shops in northwestern Myanmar following rumors that a Muslim man tried to sexually assault a young woman, officials and witnesses said Aug. 25, as the country was once again gripped by sectarian violence.